Hi everyone, thanks for waiting. So, before we begin, there is one thing I want to say in regard to my story. I agree with all of you that Cana needs to be punished for her actions. She betrayed her partner and left her alone, and while she didn't intend to leave Lucy literally at the feet of one of the Kin of Purgatory, Cana still put her in danger, as well as forgetting about the rest of her guildmates in order to further her own agenda on becoming an S-Class. But in the cannon show, she only got a minor slap on the wrist. I promise however that she will receive a much more severe punishment after Grimoire Heart is defeated. I won't say what her punishment is, but she will NOT be expelled from Fairy Tail, that I can guarantee.
One other thing I'd like to say is thank you all for your support. As of now, my story has more than 1,000 reviews! That's a new record for me! Thank you all so much!
Now, with that being said, let's get started.
Awakening
Kain Hikaru stood over the sleeping form of Lucy as he glared at her with deadly intent. He raised his foot with the intent on crushing her, just as Lucy's eyes began to flicker open. However, right before the foot came down, a bolt of blue lightning quickly shot across the sky before zooming down, past Hikaru right as he stomped onto the ground and left a crater.
The lightning bolt was revealed to be none other than Trish, who slid to a halt, electric bolts briefly surging around her body as she carried the fully awakened, yet shocked, Lucy in her arms.
"Trish!?" Lucy exclaimed in shock as she looked to see the large enemy wizard standing before them. "Hold on… did I miss something?! Where'd the wrestler come from?!"
"My guess he's one of the Eight Kin of Purgatory." Trish assumed as she put Lucy down. "But why the hell where you sleeping!? And where's Cana and Gray?!"
Lucy still wasn't quite over her shock but provided an answer. "Cana said we should split up. Gray went off on his own but Cana and I…" She looked around to find her partner had vanished. "She was right here!" Trish was mildly surprised while Lucy glared at the obvious suspect. "Where's my friend, dough-boy?!"
"The ladies' room maybe?" Kain replied.
"What have you done with her!?" Lucy demanded.
"Listen, there's no reason for you to be worried about your little friend right now." Kain said.
"Why is that?" Trish narrowed her eyes.
Kain shot them both a death-glare. "I know neither of you are going to live long enough to see her again!"
'I don't think he knows where Cana is… and why was Lucy sleeping?' Trish thought to herself. 'It doesn't look like this guy knocked her out. Wait… Lucy said that Cana said they should split up, but why would…' Trish's eyes widened in shock. 'Don't tell me… did Cana knock out Lucy?!'
"If I don't pass it this time, I'm gonna leave Fairy Tail."
"I have to be an S-Class Wizard… or I'll never be able to look him in the eye."
As Cana's words played through Trish's memory, a scowl formed on the blonde she-devil's face. 'Is she seriously that obsessed with becoming an S-Class?! And now of all times!?' Trish pulled out her Devil Sword Sparda, just as Lucy was ready to draw her keys as they both faced the enormous Kain Hikaru. 'We can worry about that later, right now this guy takes top priority.'
"Trish, are you sure you can handle this?" Lucy asked with concern. "You just got back from a pretty rough fight."
"Trust me, I got plenty of fight left in me." Trish stated.
However, once Kain Hikaru saw the intense glare both blondes were giving him, his intimidating demeanor instantly melted as he quickly hid behind a large tree. "You know, glaring at me like that ain't gonna save ya! You might think it's intimidating, but it's not!"
"Try saying that when you're not hiding behind a tree, fat boy." Trish commented with a comic sweatdrop off the back of her head.
"Do you ladies have any idea who I am?" Kain said as he continued to hide. "I'm Kain Hikaru, one of the deadly Eight Kin of Purgatory. I'm super strong and stuff."
"Yeah… I'm not impressed." Trish wasn't all that convinced.
"Strength doesn't mean jack-squat!" Lucy stated with determination, slightly freaking out Kain. "To members of Fairy Tail like us, facing a strong opponent's just another challenge. We'll take you on, and we'll defeat you! Right Trish?"
A confident look formed on her face. "Yeah, I mean compared to the last guy I thought, this guy doesn't seem like much."
Kain suddenly held his hand up. "First uh… answer one question!" He said, much to the blondes' confusion. "I feel… something bristly on my head do you see anything?" He rubbed his shaggy and burly hair.
"Are you talking about your hair?" Lucy asked in confusion, causing Kain to point at her in surprise.
'Is this guy for real…?' Trish honestly had no idea what to make of this guy.
Kain then reached into his cape. "Fine, you asked for it now! Prepare to face my Witching Hour Curse magic! You should have run when you had the chance!"
'Awkward and creepy! What have I gotten myself into!?' Lucy thought in comic fright.
Kain pulled out what appeared to be a rag doll, much to Trish and Lucy's surprise as they both kept their wits about them. "Before I destroy you, would one of you ladies mind giving me a strand of your hair?" He asked, much to their confusion as they backed away slightly, Trish holding a protective hand out in front of Lucy. "Come on! If you don't give me a strand of your hair, then I can't curse you with my Cursey Doll!"
"Yeah… not happening!" Lucy stated.
"All I need is a one flimsy little strand and Mr. Cursey will let me control you however I want." Kain explained. "You'll be pudding in my hands. Hmmm, pudding."
"Piece of advice, you don't tell your enemy how your magic works!" Trish stated as Kain Hikaru pointed toward them with a gasp, having an epiphany as a lightbulb appeared on his head. "You're just realizing that now?!" Trish exclaimed.
'Is this guy mentally challenged or something?!' Trish questioned as she and Lucy could not read this guy at all.
"Hey uh… Trish." Lucy began. "I've always heard how voodoo-dolls are bogus. But have there been any demons or anything that used that kind of thing? Just want to make sure."
"No, not that I know of." Trish answered. "Pretty sure this guy is just selling us some bull."
Kain looked in comic confusion. "You see a bull? What bull? I told you, his name is Mr. Cursey. Get it straight, lady!"
"No, I mean bull as in 'bullshit'." Trish explained with an exhausted sigh. "Like trying to sell someone a quality product when it's really worth the same value as plan shit. Can't believe I actually have to explain that."
That caused Kain to look even more comically stumped. "Wait... are you calling me a liar?! Cause that's even worse!" He rubbed his own frizzly hair, much to the women's confusion.
"Think you just lit a short fuse on a stick of stupid." Lucy said to Trish.
"Yeah, probably." The lightning she-demon agreed.
Hikaru suddenly plucked a strand of his own hair, much to Lucy's comic surprise and Trish's mild confusion. "If that's what you think, give it a try for yourself!" He actually handed them a strand of his own hair, further confusing them.
"Wha… are you messing with us?!" Lucy questioned.
He placed his own hair onto his Mr. Cursey doll. "We'll use my bristle for demonstration. Just stick it on Mr. Cursey's head like this. He's ready!"
"Question, were you ever dropped as a baby?" Trish asked.
"Yes, I was. Twenty times actually." Kain answered immediately.
"Twenty times?!" Lucy exclaimed in comic shock and confusion as Trish's eyelids lowered expectantly.
'That explains a lot.'
"Now go ahead and give it a try." Kain offered Mr. Cursey to the women, which Lucy took with a skeptical look on her face, and Trish looked equally skeptical. "There? See? Do you feel the power? You can apologize to me anytime now. Feel free to give him plenty of hugs and kisses to. By the way, I'm starting to get hungry so can we fight later…" Lucy lifted Mr. Cursey in the air and slammed the doll onto the ground, resulting in Kain flying in the air himself and being slammed onto the ground.
"Whoa… that actually worked!?" Lucy looked in surprise.
"Huh, I'll be damned." Trish was rather stunned herself.
Lucy suddenly laughed mischievously. "Hey Trish, check this out!" She stretched out Mr. Cursey's legs, causing Kain's own legs to be stretched in the same way.
"Hey! It's my turn now!" Kain comically whined.
"Break-dance spin!" Lucy spun the doll like a break dance, resulting in Kain spinning the same way. This even caused Trish to chuckle slightly, finding some levity in this situation. "How about some yoga?" Lucy put Mr. Cursey, and indirectly Kain, into several fancy yoga positions, much to Trish's amusement and Kain's comic pain. "That's right feel the burn! You can do it, big guy!"
"Hey Lucy, let me try something." Trish offered as Lucy handed her the doll. Suddenly Kain's own fist impacted his face, due to Trish using Mr. Cursey's own hand to 'punch' its own face. "Stop hitting yourself!" Trish repeated as she had Kain literally hit himself over and over. "Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself! Why are you hitting yourself?"
Lucy laughed hard as this continued, and even wiped a tear from her eye. "Classic."
"You know what?! Screw you!" Suddenly, the humorous moment was brought to a halt as Kain quickly snatched Mr. Cursey from Trish's hands, and he was more than a little angry. He stomped onto the ground as he put Mr. Cursey away and took a stance identical to that of a sumo-wrestler.
"Alright! Now I'm angry! And you can just forget about asking me out on a date, ya hear me?! I won't waste my feelings on bullies who won't share their toys!" Kain exclaimed.
"Yeah, I think we'll survive." Trish commented as she once again, drew the Devil Sword Sparda, ready for a fight, with Lucy getting serious as well.
"It's time for a non-stop ride on the Kain-Pain-Train! Choo-Choo!" He shot at both of them with speed that was beyond surprising for someone of his size, forcing Trish to grab Lucy and zoom away in a bolt of lightning to gain some distance. "Chugga-Chugga-Choo-Choo!" Despite getting far enough away, he was already catching up to them.
Trish shot her hands forward to send multiple bolts of lightning straight at Kain, but he actually proved quick and nimble enough to dodge them, much to her surprise. "How's a tub of lard like him fast enough to dodge freaking lightning!?" Trish exclaimed, but her surprise also left her open for Kain to suddenly appear in front of her and slam a fist into her face causing her to fly and crash through multiple trees.
"Trish!" Lucy immediately ran to her with worry as she tried to help her up out of a pile of broken trees. "Are you alright?!"
Trish groaned a bit as she spat out some blood. "He hits like a runaway freight train. He's definitely no slouch, I'll give him that."
Lucy pulled out one of her keys. "I'll have to fight big and creepy with big and creepy! Open! Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" Taurus suddenly appeared in front of Lucy as he tried to bring down his axe onto Kain, but he caught it in-between his palms and proved strong enough to keep Taurus at bay.
"Celestial Spirit Magic…?" Kain voiced aloud in surprise. "And an axe-swinging moo-cow?"
"Listen up pal!" Taurus stated. "The only bovine who's gonna plow Ms. Lucy's pasture is the beef-cake in front of ya!"
Hikaru looked at the humanoid cow as if he had seen a delicious hamburger. "Ya know, I haven't had steak in a while. Is it okay if I take a bite?"
A comic anger mark formed on Taurus' head. "No! But you can kiss my flank when I beat you!"
"Don't get distracted fatass!" Trish suddenly appeared behind Kain as he sliced her Devil Sword Sparda right at him, but the blade bounced off his body which appeared to have completely turned into iron. "What the hell?!" She was suddenly elbowed in the face by Kain's left arm before he slammed his right palm into Taurus' own face to send him crashing into the ground before he vanished into golden particles.
"How… how did he…?" Lucy was more than a little surprised at this.
"Mr. Cursey still has my bristle on his head." Kain explained. "So, what do you think would happen if say, I can change what his body is made of? How does iron sound to you?"
"He's made cursing himself an advantage?" Lucy questioned.
"That's actually pretty creative." Trish admitted. "But you know what's the best part about iron?" She smirked as she appeared above Kain. "It conducts electricity!" She shot a powerful bolt of lightning from her hands, scoring a direct hit and electrocuting Kain as he grunted in pain, even showing his skeleton before he fell on his hands and knees, his iron transformation wearing off.
"Nice one, Trish!" Lucy congratulated as her friend landed next to her.
"Save the praise, we're not done yet." Trish stated as they saw Kain get back up.
"You got that right! Here I come!" He chased after them once more as Trish, once again, grabbed Lucy and used her lightning-abilities to gain some distance despite Kain continuing to chase after them.
"Yeah, he might be retarded, but I think we underestimated him!" Trish said.
"No kidding! How's he so light on his feet?" An idea soon came to Lucy. "Wait… his feet! Trish, I'm gonna summon another spirit, the two of you aim for his feet!"
"Got it." They came to a stop with Kain already catching up, plowing multiple trees out of his way as Lucy drew another key. "Open! Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!"
Sagittarius appeared, saluting his master. "Howdy do, mi lady!"
Suddenly, Kain got quite hungry as he pulled out a pair of chopsticks and was comically drooling. "Horsemeat? Yummy!"
"Aim for his legs! Trip him up!" Trish already pulled out her Luce and Ombre guns as Sagittarius aimed his arrows.
"Righty-o! I'm not letting you get your hands on Lady Lucy, or your chopsticks on me!" He fired his arrows just as Trish shot a series of electrified bullets, however, it seems Kain Hikaru was ready for it.
"Change Mr. Cursey! Diamond!" In a flash of light, Kain Hikaru's body had turned completely into diamond as he delivered a powerful kick that reflected both arrows and electrified bullets right at the trio, much to their surprise as they could barely avoid it. However, Sagittarius quickly dove in front of the pair as he let himself take the brunt of the hit, his own arrows and the electric bullets piercing through his body, though Trish and Lucy were hit along their sides, causing some bleeding cuts to form.
"Sagittarius!" Lucy exclaimed in shock as he began to fade away.
"Forgive me… Lady Lucy…" He vanished completely.
"Hold on… he turned himself into diamond!?" Trish exclaimed upon seeing Hikaru's transformed state.
"Got that right." Kain Hikaru stomped menacingly, taking another sumo stance. "Diamond is one of the hardest minerals off all, it's a real pain just to crack it. Can't slice it with your sword. And unlike iron, it doesn't conduct electricity, so your lightning won't work on it."
"You've gotta be kidding me…" Trish muttered. She quickly grabbed Lucy's hand as, for the third time, she shot both herself and her friend into the air in the form of a bolt of lightning. Only this time, it was heading straight up.
"Trish, what are you doing?" Lucy asked as they were rather high in the air.
"He can somehow use his voodoo-magic to change his physical properties." Trish began. "But it looks like he can only do solid matter, so he won't be able to fly."
"There's no escape! Change Mr. Cursey! Light!" Suddenly, his entire body transformed into a mass of light that shot up at the pair at insane speed. He slammed a fist into Trish's gut, forcing her to cough up some blood before Kain brought both his fists down onto both of them, causing them to crash onto the ground, while Kain landed on his feet, also shaking up the ground.
"Did he… did he… turn himself into… light?" Lucy stuttered as Trish appeared to be even more worse for wear than her, who landed a bit further away from Lucy.
Kain stomped his way over towards Trish as she tried to pick herself up, only for Kain to grab her by the head. "I hate to do this to a lady, but I'm gonna have to squeeze your head like a grape now." He began to crush Trish's head in his grip, the pain was even causing her to scream, much to Lucy's horror.
"No! Stop it! Leave her alone!" Lucy tried to stand back up but fell to her knees in pain as she held onto her side.
"Lucy… run…!" Trish stated as she tried to channel another surge of lightning through her body, only for Kain Hikaru's body to transform into diamond and counter it.
"I told you. I can turn Mr. Cursey myself into diamond, which doesn't conduct electricity." Kain said. "Now I'm gonna keep squeezing ya even harder!" He continued to squeeze, now that his body was diamond-hard, it hurt even more, causing Trish's screams to echo even louder.
Lucy looked in absolute horror, never hearing Trish scream like that. But that wasn't even the worst of it, her friend was about to be killed and she couldn't do anything about it. Loke was still recovering from their respective fights, Taurus and Sagittarius were both down for the count. She still had Virgo, Scorpio, Aries, and Cancer however, but with Kain's ability to alter his own physical abilities, she doubted any of them could do much damage. Of course, there was still… but there wasn't any water here! However, Lucy felt along her pained side and looked to her hand to see some blood, not enough that she'd be in danger of bleeding out but…
'Wait… blood has water in it right?' A determined look formed on Lucy's face as she drew a certain key. 'She's gonna kill me for this, but right now we don't have any time!' She placed the key in her bloodied hand. "Open! Gate of the Water-Bearer! Aquarius!"
Suddenly, a large splash of water shot from Lucy's hand as Aquarius had appeared. Kain looked in surprise as he dropped Trish. "A she-fish? Some fancy magic tuna?" Kain couldn't react in time as Aquarius aimed her urn and blasted a massive surge of water in the form of a tidal wave that actually sent Kain Hikaru flying and crashing through multiple trees and blasting him far away and out of eyesight.
"Trish!" Lucy immediately ran to her downed friend as she saw some bleeding along her head. "Come on! Say something!"
The lightning she-demon's eyes opened slightly as she saw Lucy and smirked. "Nice one…" She muttered before coughing a bit.
Lucy breathed a huge sigh of relief, glad to see her friend alright. "Thanks, Aquarius. I don't…"
*BONK!*
The blonde Celestial Wizard held a large and comic bump on her head. "Ow! What the hell was that for?!" Lucy gave a fearful gasp as she saw the death-glare Aquarius was giving her.
"Do you have any idea what you just did?!" Aquarius exclaimed in a booming face. "I was having the most romantic date with my hunky Scorpio when you pulled me here! I told you want would happen if you pulled a stunt like that!"
'Seriously?' Trish thought with an annoyed sweatdrop.
"Listen you, blonde bimbo!" Aquarius went right up to Lucy's face. "If you're gonna have the nerve to interrupt one of my dates, at least learn to summon two spirits already so I can bring my man with me! Don't you…!"
*SLAP!*
Aquarius' ranting was brought to a halt as Lucy had slapped her across the face, much to Trish and even Aquarius' surprise.
"Look, I'm sorry I interrupted your date." Lucy spoke with a serious expression on her face. "But I really needed your help! My friend was about to die, and you're one of my most powerful Celestial Spirits! I only summon you when I absolutely need to, but I'm still your owner! So, stop with your complaining and help me, cause when my friends' lives are on the line, I'm not gonna take crap anyone! Not even you!"
'Damn.' Trish thought to herself with an impressive smirk as she stood up.
Aquarius herself had a blank look on her face before a similar smirk formed on her face to. "Well, looks like you finally grew a backbone. About damn time, I was getting sick of waiting."
A look of confusion formed on Lucy's face. "Wait… what?"
"I know you're my owner." Aquarius explained. "And of course, I'm gonna help you, I just wanted you to toughen up is all."
"So… you constantly yelling at me and making death threats was…?" Lucy seemed to get the idea.
"Just to get you to buck up." Aquarius confirmed. "Looks like it worked." She put her hand on Lucy's head. "And I gotta admit, summoning me with your own blood, that was pretty badass. Not bad, kid."
"Yeah… that was pretty cool." Trish seemed to agree.
Lucy was stunned for a moment. Aquarius had just praised her! All the time she's known her, she was virtually terrified of the Water Bearer, and honestly thought once or twice the only reason she didn't kill her was the whole taboo that Celestial Spirits can't kill their own wizards. But turns out, it was all just tough love to get Lucy to grow a spine. Soon, she smiled.
"Thanks." However, Aquarius' head-pat turned into a bit of a firm squeeze as Aquarius glared at her slightly.
"But slap me again, and there's gonna be trouble. You got that?" She threatened, which was enough to send a shiver down Lucy's spine.
"Yes ma'am."
However, all three directed their attention towards the forest as they head a familiar stomping noise moving toward them, but it also felt incredibly hot as the presence got closer. Both Trish and Lucy readied themselves for the next round, but Aquarius wasn't keen on waiting as she swung her urn to send a massive tidal wave towards what appeared to be Kain Hikaru as he appeared out of the forest.
"Nice one Aquarius!" Lucy congratulated, thinking they got him.
"Of course, you expect anything less?" Aquarius said arrogantly as she flipped her hair back.
"Well I wasn't expecting that!" Trish pointed to the water that had quickly begun to evaporate, much to Lucy and Aquarius' shock, and even further shock as all the water exploded outward to reveal Kain Hikaru, who had transformed himself yet again. This time, he had taken the form of what appeared to be molten lava, though he still maintained his own solid form.
"What the… did he just change himself into lava?!" Lucy exclaimed as even Aquarius didn't see this coming.
"Of course I did." The Lava-Kain explained as held out Mr. Cursey who was in a similar state. "I can change Mr. Cursey's own properties to change myself since he's got my bristle on him. I can make myself as hard as iron or even diamond to block physical attacks, I can also change my states of matter into liquid, gas, or even light. And last I checked; lava can burn between one thousand to two thousand degrees! Which is more than enough to turn water into steam!"
"How the hell does a retard like you know all that?!" Trish exclaimed.
"I may not be all that good with social skills, but Master Hades taught me everything I know about magic, physics, and even chemistry." Kain answered. "I may not look it, but I'm still one of the Eight Kin. There's no way you can beat me."
'Oh crap, this is really bad. What are we gonna do?' Lucy thought to herself. 'This guy can turn himself into anything that can not only resist but block Trish's lightning, plus in his light-form there's no way we can outrun him!'
However, Aquarius floated in front of Lucy and Trish as she faced Kain directly. "Lucy, go find your friends. I can take this blowhard!"
"By yourself?!" Lucy exclaimed. "No way! I'm not going to…"
"You have to! Go!" Aquarius exclaimed, surprising Lucy as well as Trish. "I'm a Celestial Spirit, so if he is somehow able to beat me, I'll just end up back in the Celestial Spirit world. He can't kill me, you know that."
"Yeah, but…" Lucy did not like the idea of leaving another one of her spirits to fight for her while she runs away. She already did that with Loke but hated it and she didn't want to do it again. However, Trish had already grabbed her by her wrist.
"Come on, let's go!" Trish told her as she began to pull her away.
"Trish wait!" Lucy tried to stop her.
"You're not getting away from me!" Kain Hikaru was about to run after them, only to get blasted back by another torrent of water from Aquarius' urn. Though he was still in lava form as the water quickly evaporated upon contact, the force was enough to knock him back.
"You better stay focused on me, fatso!" Aquarius challenged.
"Aquarius!" Lucy tried to pull herself free from Trish's grip as she was practically being dragged.
"I can handle this!" Aquarius told her.
"Lucy's she's right." Trish said as they stopped. "I hate to say it, but with that guy's power, there's nothing I can do. The best thing we can do is keep running and hopefully we'll find one of our friends who can do some damage to him."
Lucy knew Trish had a point, though she hated it, she really had no choice but to let Aquarius buy them some time. So, with a heavy heart, she turned back to her spirit. "Aquarius… kick his ass!"
The mermaid-spirit smirked as she saw her owner and Trish run to get some distance as she turned her attention back to Kain Hikaru, still in his lava form, as he made another sumo-stance.
"Oh, you done it this time!" Kain Hikaru stated. "And don't think just because you're a pretty mermaid that I'm gonna go easy on ya! Let's see if fried sea-food can satisfy my pallet!"
"Bring it you, overweight tub of lard!" Aquarius challenged with a daring smirk. "You make even whales look like they're on a crash diet!" She shot one of the strongest torrents of water she could muster from her urn straight at Kain Hikaru. Though the impact was enough to send him skidding back a bit of distance, he stomped his lava-feet into the ground to keep himself from being blown away again. The intense water hitting his body hurt a bit, but it also evaporated, turning into a massive steam-cloud upon contact, but it didn't help that Aquarius appeared to have a near unlimited supply of water at her command. However, Kain Hikaru was still able to push forward against the raging waters, one large stomp at a time as Aquarius continued to push harder.
"Come on… Come on…" Aquarius pushed harder and harder, but Kain Hikaru continued to stomp even closer, leaving a trail of lava behind with each step 'Even if I can't beat him… I can at least ware him down so Lucy and her friends can finish him off… doesn't mean I'm gonna go easy on him!' She continued to press on, however Kain Hikaru was already five feet in front of her, and once he was close enough, he grabbed Aquarius in the form of a squeezing bear-hug.
"Ah, isn't that nice? How'd you like a nice warm hug?" Kain said as he pressed Aquarius' against his lava-body, causing her to scream in pain.
However, despite the pain, Aquarius still had a daring grin on her face. "You still hungry… fatso? Well… EAT… THIS!"
*BOOM!*
Aquarius actually exploded her urn in the form of a powerful geyser-like attack that exploded outward in all directions. One could say it was something of a kamikaze attack, but since Celestial Spirits can't die like how normal people can, it would still send her back to the Celestial Spirit world.
The explosion rocked the whole area as Trish and Lucy stopped running to instinctively look back and see a large plume of smoke and steaming coming from the area they just left. Lucy felt from one of her keys a sensation that she knew all too well. Aquarius had been defeated.
Trish noticed the expression on Lucy's face and had a great deal of sympathy for her, but now was not the time to grieve. "Lucy, listen. We have to keep going."
Lucy sighed. "I know." As she however glanced up at the smoke which began to dissipate, she noticed something odd in the sky. "What the…?"
Trish looked in the direction her friend was looking, with her own demonic senses, she could see it clearer than Lucy could. It was something that caused her to look in shock. "You've gotta be kidding me…!"
It was Kain Hikaru, this time his body had taken the form and properties of cotton. "Wheh, that was a close one." He said, mostly to himself. "Had I not turned Mr. Cursey and myself into cotton just in time, we would have been done for sure."
Lucy saw him as well as a comic ghost left her body in pure shock. "There's no stopping this guy is there!"
"RUN!" Trish exclaimed as she picked up Lucy in her arms and shot away with both her and her friend in the form of a bolt of lightning as Kain Hikaru prepared to give chase.
"Change Mr. Cursey! Iron!" His body turned into iron, making him heavy enough to fall after them. "Fine! I'll have to settle my appetite with a full-course dinner of pain and suffering!"
Meanwhile, Natsu slid back on his feet as Job shot another beam of light at him, but Natsu intercepted the attack with a flaming fist, causing a small explosion. Lisanna, still in her Dragon Take Over, shot down towards Job with her foot, crushing the rock he was previously standing on as he teleported away.
He re-appeared a bit of a distance away from both as he prepared another attack. "Holy Devil Arrows of Judgement!" He shot a series of light-arrows from a bow-construct made out of light straight at the pair
"Inferno Blast!" Lisanna blasted a large stream of flames from her mouth at many of the arrows, creating another explosion that also served as a smokescreen that Natsu blasted his way through, his body coated in flames.
"Fire Dragon Sword Horn!" Natsu would have landed the attack, hadn't Job not whipped up a defense in time.
"Holy Devil Blessed Shield!" The light-shield did block the attack, though it cracked and broke from Natsu's own attack, stopping it, it didn't stop Natsu himself as he grabbed Job by the shoulders and delivered a fierce head-butt that actually caused Job to stumble back a bit.
"How'd ya like that, jackass?!" Natsu challenged with a grin as Job only looked more annoyed.
"If your goal is simply to irritate me, I would say you have succeeded."
At the same time; Dante leapt at Ultear with Rebellion who was quick to use her Arc of Time to raise a tree from the ground, acting as a makeshift shield to block his sword strike. However, Dante was able to easily cut through the tree and close in on Ultear, this however left him vulnerable for an attack from the leader of the Eight Kin.
"Flash Forward!" She created multiple crystal balls, which were all quickly shot at Dante. However, rather than attack him from all directions, every single one of them all concentrated directly at the opening on Dante's abdomen. The combined force of the powerful strike was enough to send Dante flying and crashing on the ground, before he flipped and landed on his feet.
Lady appeared behind Ultear as she tried to shoot at her, believing Dante had her distracted. However, it seems as though Ultear was actually well aware of her enemy's presence as multiple crystal orbs appeared behind Lady and quickly shot down on her, scoring several direct hits, however Dante was still able to use his Quicksilver to zoom in, grab Lady and pull her out of the way of the worst of the attacks.
Dante and Lady stood back-to-back with both Natsu and Lisanna as they faced their respective opponents from opposite sides.
"How ya guys doing?" Dante asked. "We could switch it up again if you want."
"Nah, we got this wannabe priest on the ropes." Natsu still kept his smirk.
"Do you truly believe I'm exerting my full power now?" Job questioned. "If so, then you are more naïve than I thought."
"Guess he was just toying with us." Lisanna's eyes narrowed.
Natsu however wasn't deterred in the slightest. "Whatever. I can still take this guy. I ain't a devil so his powers can't hurt me."
"Don't be so simple-minded." Job glared.
"How you guys holding up?" Lisanna asked Dante and Lady.
"She's no push-over, I can say that for sure." Lady commented.
"But she's still holding back." Dante kept his eyes trained on Ultear. "What? You think I'm not good enough."
"I admit, I underestimated you Dante." Ultear acknowledged. "Same goes for your friend. However, that doesn't mean I still can't destroy you."
"Do your worst, bitch." The Son of Sparda challenged with a grin.
However, before the battle could continue, a bolt of lightning suddenly surged past the group; surprising not only the four members of Fairy Tail, but even the two Kin of Purgatory. The lightning disappeared, revealing Trish as she carried Lucy over her shoulder.
"DANTE! SWING LEFT! NOW!" Trish shouted
No time to argue, and trusting his partner, Dante swung Rebellion on his left, scoring a direct hit on Kain Hikaru, still in his iron form, having fallen from the sky. The impact from Rebellion, plus Dante's strength was enough to send the overweight dark wizard flying and crashing through a tree, much to Ultear's own surprise.
"What the…?!" Natsu voiced in surprise as he, Lady, and Lisanna did not expect to see that either, even Dante was momentarily stunned.
"Lucy?! Trish!? What are you guys doing here?" Lisanna exclaimed in surprise.
"Running for our lives from a psycho tub of lard." Lucy answered with a sense of relief over having found some of her friends.
Job had meanwhile teleported by Ultear's side as the leader of the Eight Kin addressed her overweight companion. "Kain, care to tell me what you're doing here?"
Kain rubbed his sore cheek where there was actually a bleeding cut of where Rebellion struck him, he was also covered in some bruises from Aquarius' largest attack, but he was still back on his feet as he answered Ultear.
"Oh yeah, sorry. I was fighting those two blondes and I almost finished them off."
"Looks like you guys have been having some trouble to, huh?" Trish noticed as she and Lucy stood alongside Dante, Natsu, Lisanna, and Lady.
"Guys, that woman is the leader of the Eight Kin of Purgatory." Lisanna revealed, getting Trish and Lucy's attention. "Not only that, but she was beyond everything with Deliora, the Tower of Heaven, and all that stuff."
"Wait, seriously?!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah, Grimoire Heart's been pulling the strings behind pretty much everything." Dante added.
"Okay, but what about that guy who looks like a priest?" Lucy asked.
"Get this, he says he's a Devil Slayer." Lady answered, much to the blonde's shock.
"Wait, what do you mean a 'Devil Slayer'?" Trish questioned.
"Kinda like a Dragon Slayer only for demons not dragons." Natsu summed up. "Guy was strong enough to even take down Dante one time."
That really got their attention. "Hold on… that guy beat you!?" Lucy pointed directly at the red-clad Devil Hunter. "Dante… that has to be some kind of joke… right…?" Lucy hoped as she actually shook with fear at the thought of something like that.
"Believe me, I wish it wasn't." Dante said in a grim tone. "His magic is pretty toxic to demons."
That even caused Trish to gulp slightly as she glanced at the aforementioned wizard, who still bore an emotionless expression with eyes that said he would kill anything and everything in his path without even a hint of mercy or regret.
"So, what's with the fat guy?" Dante asked. "I've heard of obesity, but that guy looks like someone who actually ate someone with obesity!"
"A guy with some fancy voodoo magic." Trish answered. "He's been giving us plenty of trouble to."
Despite the tense situation and the intense stare down shared by the six members of Fairy Tail and the three Kin of Purgatory of Grimoire Hearth, Natsu couldn't help but smirk.
"Ya know, since we've all been having trouble with these chumps, why don't we share a bit? Mix things up a little and really give these guys something to worry about." The Dragon Slayer said, getting his friends' attention. "I mean, don't get me wrong; we're still rivals when it comes to completing the S-Class trials, but… I don't mind a truce for now." He smiled, to which each of his own friends smirked as well.
"Yeah, I'm just about sick of these guys. Let's show them the door." Dante said as he twirled Rebellion in his hands, Trish and Lady standing beside him.
"Teaming up like this, it sure brings back memories, doesn't it?" Trish said as she wielded the Devil Sword Sparda and channeled her lightning into it.
"Yep. Taking names and kicking ass. Good times." Lady agreed as she cocked both her pistols, while also holding onto the blade from her destroyed rocket launcher, but couldn't help but smirk alongside her comrades, both old and new.
"Reminds me of our first adventure in Hargeon, right Natsu?" Lucy smirked as she tied her hair back and held her Celestial Keys.
"Don't forget, I'm here to help to. I've been wanting a chance to fight with both of you for a long time." Lisanna said as she flexed her wings and coated her claws in flames.
Natsu laughed. "I'm all fired up now!" Both his fists lit on fire as well.
All six of them stood ready to face their enemies with smirks as Natsu and Dante shared a quick high-five. "You ready Dante?"
"You know it, Natsu!"
Ultear had an amused, yet sadistic, smirk on her face while Job remained as stoic as ever. Kain however was comically biting down on his own cape. "Quit acting all buddy-buddy! It's driving me crazy!"
"Okay, here's the load down on our two guys." Dante quickly explained to Lucy and Trish. "The Devil Slayer priest-guy uses light-based magic. And he can consume the light in the area to replenish his own power the same way Natsu does with fire. That lady uses some kind of time magic to accelerate and alter the time around objects, but she can't affect living beings."
"Got it." Trish nodded. "The fat guy uses some kind of voodoo magic. All he needs is your hair, but when it's his hair, he can change his body into iron, diamond, light, cotton, and even lava."
"Alright, here's the plan." Dante began. "I got fat-boy. Natsu, Lisanna, you stick with the wannabe-priest. Trish, Lucy, Lady, you take the crazy bitch."
"Sounds like a plan." Natsu smirked as he was the first to attack. Fire propelled from his feet as he shot a flaming fist attack straight at Job, who created a light-shield to block the attack. However, Lisanna also flew above him in her Dragon Take-Over and launched a point-blank and explosive breath attack that sent him skidding on his feet across the ground.
"Ready for Round Two?" Lisanna challenged Job as she stood with Natsu.
"Come at me, if you are so eager to die." Job stated.
Lady ran towards Ultear as she opened fire with both her pistols, but like before, her Arc of Time was able to disintegrate the bullets into dust. Ultear kept her smirk up as she prepared her next attack. "Parallel Worlds!" She created multiple paradox duplicates of her crystal balls which she sent at Lady. "Flash Forward!"
However, this was exactly what Lady wanted as she simply limboed her body, where a large bolt of lightning shot clear past the flying orbs, destroying them rapidly, while shooting at Ultear so fast not even she could react in time to something hitting her hard and send her crashing and rolling across the ground, leaving a trench-like trail as she came to a halt.
"What… what was…?" Ultear looked up in surprise as she saw Trish standing over her.
"Sure, that fancy time magic you got is impressive." Trish told her with a smirk. "But all the good it'll do ya if you can't react fast enough. And there's not a whole lot of things in this world that are faster than lightning."
Ultear glared as she was about to cast another spell, only for her to be blasted by a condensed torrent of sand, sending her crashing into a tree.
"Nice shot, Scorpio!" Lucy smirked, having summon him with his key a second ago.
"Got that right! Ain't nothing can stop this wicked beast! Oh yeah!" Scorpio smirked while flashing a pair of rock-on devil horns.
Lady was already by Lucy and Scorpio's side "Sand lasts a very long time, thousands of years in fact. Good luck trying to age that." She said to Ultear as Trish joined them.
A scowl formed on Ultear's face. "I'm going to enjoy killing you!"
At the same time, Dante squared off against Kain Hikaru as he lunged at him, swinging Rebellion, but Hikaru seemed prepared. "Change Mr. Cursey! Diamond!" Kain Hikaru's body became diamond right as Rebellion struck, though Hikaru skidded back a few feet, his diamond body was relatively unaffected by Rebellion's strike.
"Gotta say, that's actually a pretty impressive power ya got." Dante smirked.
"You must be Mr. Dante." Kain Hikaru pointed to him. "Don't you underestimate me! I may not look like much, but I'm one of the deadly Eight Kin of Purgatory! Name's Kain Hikaru!"
"I don't care if your Mundus' right hand. You're going down, tubby!"
Dante's insult caused Kain to look in shock for a moment. "Tubby…?" He looked emotionally hurt as tears formed in his eyes before a look of intense rage formed on his face, complete with gritting teeth. "NOBODY CALLS ME TUBBY!" He slugged Dante in the face with his diamond fist, sending him crashing into a tree, but Kain wasn't done yet. "Change Mr. Cursey! Light!" His whole body turned into light as he launched a series of sumo-palm thrusts, sending out multiple light bolts right at where Dante landed, creating a large smoke screen.
However, what Kain didn't notice was Dante appearing behind him, with his Beowulf gauntlets and grieves. Dante dealt a roundhouse to the back of Kain's head and sent him rolling across the ground before coming to a stop against a rocky and upside down. "Hey! No fair! Who said you could move super-fast?!"
"I did." Dante smirked. "Yeah, you got some power that can let you become either super-strong or super-fast. But you can't do both at the same time, can you? For me though, with these babies…" He held up his gauntlet-fists like a professional boxer as he hopped on his feet with his grieves. "I'm fast and strong!" He shot at Kain like a bullet and slammed a powerful slug into Kain's gut, knocking the wind right out of him. But Dante wasn't done as he laid multiple rapid punches with Beowulf before finishing with a slug to Kain's face and sending him flying and crashing through multiple trees.
"How do ya like that, tubby!" Dante put extra emphasis on that insult, which only served to anger Kain Hikaru even further as he shot out of the rubble with explosive results.
"I SAID THAT NOBODY CALLS ME TUBBY!" Kain shouted. "NOW YOU'VE ASKED FOR IT! ALL ABOARD TO THE KAIN-PAIN-TRAIN!"
"A train that I'm gonna take pleasure in derailing!" Dante stated as he charged at Hikaru again.
"Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!"
"Holy Devil Sacred Blade! Job created a light-sword which he used to slice through Natsu's fireball which exploded behind him. He was then forced on the defensive with his sword, parrying against Lisanna's rapid clawed strikes in her Dragon Soul. This almost left him vulnerable for Natsu to come in from behind with a fire-fist, but Job teleported out of the way. Natsu stopped his attack just when it looked like it was about to come into contact with Lisanna's own shocked face.
However, Natsu swung a flaming kick behind him right as Job suddenly appeared, though he looked in minor surprise as the attack hit, also leaving him open for Lisanna to strike Job in the face with her fist, sending him crashing into a tree.
"How…?" Job, for the first time, sounded completely surprised.
"You ain't the first guy who uses some fancy fast light magic." Natsu stated. "Plus, I know you're scent! So go ahead and teleport all you want, I'll still see ya coming!"
A flash of anger appeared in Job's eyes as he attacked once more. "Holy Devil Starburst!" This attack was much more chaotic than the last, sending out multiple beams of light in nearly every direction as Natsu and Lisanna could barely dodge any of them; though they were struck along the sides, however. Lisanna got an even worse attack as one light beam struck her leg. It didn't pierce, but it brought her down for a bit.
Job suddenly appeared behind her with a light-sword in hand, ready to cut her down. But Natsu shot at him and landed a fiery-punch, which Job could only block with his arms, he couldn't react fast enough to produce a light shield. This caused him some pain and irritation, he produced a small light sphere in his palm which he placed at Natsu's stomach.
"Holy Devil Sacred Star!"
This attack was more of an explosion than a series of light blasts at it actually did some damage to Natsu and sent him flying before he skidded to a halt across the ground. He felt his chest where there appeared to be some minor burns. Lisanna landed by his side, still in her Dragon Take Over.
"Natsu, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'll live." Natsu grunted. "Gotta admit, his magic is some pretty serious stuff. Makes Jellal's own light magic look kinda puny by comparison."
"I warned you what would happen if you interfered in my mission." Job said as his voice appeared to be lightly laced with anger, indicating his normally calm personal was starting to crack. "But it is too late for you to repent. Your sin is punishable not only by death, but eternal torment in the inferno below."
"There's only one person here who's going to hell and it ain't us, bub!" Natsu exclaimed, back on his feet.
"We won't let Grimoire Heart win! No matter what!" Lisanna stated as they both shot at Job again.
Dante meanwhile shot at Hikaru again to lay another punch into his gut, followed by an uppercut to his jaw, sending Hikaru flying into the air, where Dante jumped to deliver a roundhouse to Hikaru's face and send him crashing and skidding across the ground. "Oh, don't tell me you're done already!" Dante challenged as he landed, looking at the pile of rubble, Hikaru was supposedly buried under. "Not even breaking a sweat yet!"
Suddenly, a plum of lava shot from the ground right into Dante's chest. The lava took the shape of a hand, which belonged to Kain Hikaru who was in his lava form again. "Ah ha! I got ya!" Hikaru stated as he tried to pull Dante into a boiling-hot bear hug with his lava body. "Bet you thought I could do something like this, could ya!?"
Despite being burnt by the intense heat, which was incredibly painful even by his own standards, Dante smirked. "Actually… yeah. Agni! Rudra!" Suddenly, a powerful vortex of fire and wind exploded out from in-between them. Dante skidded to a halt, wielding his red and blue elemental blades while Kain himself was sent flying straight up in the tornado of fire and wind. "The problem with having a body of lava, means your entire body is liquid, right? And what happens when liquid meets wind? Answer: it gets blown away!"
Kain Hikaru looked in comic fear as he saw his body beginning to blow apart as he acted quickly to try and change form. "Change Mr. Cursey! Iron!" While his body was still in one piece, he transformed into iron and let himself fall right as the vortex dissipated. He landed rather hard on the ground, but was back on his feet in no time.
"Ah ha! See! Now I'm back in my feet! What are you gonna do now…!" Hikaru was slugged once again across his iron cheek by Dante, once again, quipped into his Beowulf gauntlets and grieves, sending him crashing through the trees and rocky terrain once more.
"I think you're right how I want you to be." Dante smirked. "By the way, thanks for the tan. Never felt so good." He gloated to Kain Hikaru as he got up, only to see the giant was actually smiling. "What'ch smirking for, tubby?"
"I'm smiling at how much pain you're gonna put your friends through." Kain Hikaru said darkly.
Before Dante could even ask what he meant by that, his whole body shifted on its own and he shot himself right at Scorpio as he, Lucy, Trish, and Lady kept up their fight against Ultear. One punch from Dante's Beowulf Gauntlet was enough to send Scorpio back to the Spirit World, much to Dante's own shock; as well as the shock of Lady, Trish, and Lucy.
"Dante!? What the hell are you doing?!"
"I don't…" Even Dante was beyond stunned. "I can't feel my…" Before Dante could continue, his arm moved on it's own and he punched the ground with enough force, plus that of the Beowulf gauntlet, to create a shockwave to send all three of his companions flying in separate directions.
"Well now, it would seem the tables of turned." Ultear smirked evilly, back up on her feet, having a good idea what just happened.
"That's right." Kain Hikaru revealed his Mr. Cursey doll had a piece of white hair sticking on its head. "I snagged one of your bristles when I grabbed you with my lava hand."
That was a complete surprise to not only Dante, but especially towards the downed Trish and Lucy as they knew exactly what that meant.
"Oh no…" Lucy muttered in terror.
"Kain, I believe Job could use some assistance. Why don't we provide him some?" Ultear asked in a sadistic tone.
"You got that right." Kain said as he directed Mr. Cursey for Dante to shoot towards Natsu and Lisanna, who were still engaging Job.
"Natsu! Lisanna! Get out of the way!" Dante yelled as the two instinctively dodged the first attack. But the surprise caught them off-guard as the controlled-Dante struck his right grieve into Lisanna's gut, not only knocking the wind out of her, but sending her crashing to the ground where she lost her Dragon Take Over.
"Dante! What the hell?!" Natsu exclaimed as he desperately tried to dodge Dante's controlled punches.
"It's not me! He's got my hair on his voodoo!" Dante shouted as he tried to regain control, but he couldn't feel any control with his body. As Natsu tried to dodge Dante's attack however, it left him vulnerable for a light arrow to pierce Natsu's side, courtesy of Job. Natsu yelled in pain from that attack, but not before he was slugged in the face by Dante's right Beowulf gauntlet and sent crashing into the rock wall.
"This Dragon Slayer is particularly stubborn. Make sure he can't get up again." Job said to Hikaru.
"You got it!" Kain redirected Mr. Cursey so that Dante would deliver a flying kick to the small cliffside, causing a great deal of rubble to collapse hard on Natsu, leaving his lower body buried and pinned underneath the rocks.
"Natsu!" Lucy and Lisanna both exclaimed, only to look in complete shock as they saw a series of plants emerge from the ground before they magically sprouted to life in the form of huge trees. Both of them were completely entangled in the branches and were completely immobilized. And it wasn't just then, both Lady and Trish were in the same predicament.
"What the hell…?!" Lady exclaimed.
"My Arc of Time might not be able to directly affect people or even demons, but vegetation seems to work just fine." Ultear explained as she causally walked toward the trapped Trish as she dropped her sword as she was ensnared. "Give a couple years, and even the smallest plants will become enormous trees." She reached down to pick up the sacred devil sword with both her hands. "So, this is the Devil Sword Sparda? Hmm, it's certainly heavier than I thought."
"Get your hands off that!" Trish stated in anger. Only for her look of rage to turn into one of physical pain as Ultear ran the blade right through her.
"Trish!" Lady, Lucy, and even Dante all exclaimed as Natsu and Lisanna looked in horror as well.
"Oh, I know all about you Trish." Ultear mocked as blood poured from the impaled demon's mouth and wound. "A demon once in service to our Lord and Savior Mundus, and so foolishly turned your back on him. I also know that this won't be enough to kill you but keep someone of your caliber from getting in the way. I want you and the rest of your friends to watch this."
Ultear, Kain, and Job surrounded Dante as he was standing completely immobilized, all under the control of Kain's Mr. Cursey doll. He glared hateful daggers at all three of them, wanting nothing more than to rip each of them limb-from-limb.
"Oooh! Look at us! We just captured Sparda' Son!" Kain cheered with child-like glee. "That's one of our missions completed! Now all we have to do is bring him to Master Hades, right?"
"No." Ultear shook her head as she walked up to Dante, her own face less-than-an-inch from his as he glared at her. "I already made him that offer, but he refused. And you know what Master Hades told us to do if he refused, right?" Dante then spat in Ultear's face, some of it even got into her eyes as she stumbled back to wipe it off with her sleeve.
"Now that was rude." She said annoyed. "At least your brother had some manners."
"Go to hell!" Dante exclaimed.
"You first." Ultear replied before turning to the Holy Devil Slayer. "Job, if you would do the honors?"
"It would be my pleasure." Job let some elation slip into his otherwise emotionless voice as a light-sword materialized in his hand and he stabbed Dante, causing him to groan in pain as he already had blood coming from his mouth.
"Dante!" Lady exclaimed as she, Trish, Natsu, Lisanna, and Lucy looked in horror.
"In our first encounter, I was originally planning on giving you a painless death." Job said to Dante as he ran his light blade deeper into him. "However, you insulted our Lord Mundus to the worst possible degree, assaulted his most loyal followers… as such, I will ensure that your death is as slow and painful as possible as you hear the cries of anguish of those you consider your family. Before I send them to join you."
Job extended his hand to shoot a multitude of light beams from his fingers, piercing through Dante all over. His arms, his legs, his chest, his shoulders, nearly everywhere except his head. Each shot was small, but it was condensed with a great deal of Devil Slayer magic, causing Dante intense pain with each shot as he went from painful grunts to agonizing yells with each strike.
"You bastards!" Natsu angrily shouted as he tried to wrench himself free.
Job created yet another light-sword in his hands as he began to slahs and hack repeatedly at Dante's immobilized form. His painful screams were pleasing to the ears of all three members of Grimoire Heart, but for his loved ones in Fairy Tail it was nothing short of a horror show.
"No… stop it… stop it… please…!" Lucy was on the verge of begging as tears were already forming in her eyes, while Lisanna was already beginning to cry.
"Get the hell away from him!" Lady shouted, desperately struggling to wrench herself free. Trish wanted to move, but the Devil Sword impaled in her kept her from even speaking a word as she was in a great deal of pain already, having spent too much of her energy not just from her fight against Zoldeo, but trying to fight back Hikaru earlier.
After one final and bloodied slash, Dante yelled in pain again. He wanted to fall down and collapse on the ground, but as long as Hikaru kept hold of his Mr. Cursey doll, Dante remained in a standing position as his head hung, and his breathing became incredibly ragged, indicating he was just barely alive now.
"Well, if you have any last words Dante, now is the time." Job told him. "As an apostle to our lord, I am obligated to give you one final moment of repentance."
"Feel free to beg if you want, but your death is inevitable." Ultear added. "So? Speak."
Dante only mumbled a bit, which nobody could hear properly. "Huh? I didn't hear what he said." Kain said.
"You'll have to speak up, dear Dante." Ultear said. "If you have something to say, we would still like to hear it."
The Son of Sparda etched his head up, blood already oozing from his mouth. However, despite the intense pain, he had a trolling grin on his face as he weakly said three simple words.
"Go… fuck… yourself…"
Ultear's face turned into a frown as she backed away. "Well, if nothing else. You held true to your convictions to the very end. I respect that, truly I do. Job, finish him."
"As you wish." Job held his light sword in one hand, and pulled on Dante's hair on his left. "I will personally deliver his head to Master Hades!"
"NOOOO!" Natsu yelled as Lisanna and Lucy both screamed right as Job was about to swing his blade.
However, for a brief second, it was as if time had stopped completely for Trish and Lady. For Trish, Dante was the first person to genuinely show her kindness, despite being her enemy. She was a servant for Mundus, modeled after his mother, likely as an insult on Mundus' part. But despite that, he still accepted and cared for her. It was because of that compassion, that Trish betrayed Mundus and joined him. Dante was more than just a friend and a partner to her, he was her family, which was only further cemented after they both joined Fairy Tail.
For Lady, Dante helped her when nobody else would. He understood exactly what she was going through. To lose your family, your home, to have your entire life completely turned upside down and irreversibly changed by a monster who's only goal was to seize power for himself. She hated any and all demons, and at first, Dante was no exception despite being half-human. However, it was humanity that appealed to her. Once she learned who he truly was, why he was fighting, all hate was replaced with respect, more than that… a feeling she had only once experienced with her mother. Was it… love? Whatever it was, it was something that caused something else inside her to snap, same for Trish.
They would not stand by and let Dante die like this. They had to help him! They would help him! And it wasn't just him, all their friends and family in the new home they both called Fairy Tail! They would protect it with everything they had and more!
Job stopped his blade, less than an inch from Dante's neck as he felt something crawl down his spine. He turned towards Lady, his face, once completely stoic, had given way to shock as he saw a bright silver aura forming around her body, and a familiar magic presence began to swell within her.
Before either Kain or Ultear could ask what he was doing, thunder echoed throughout the skies. Dark clouds began to form and condense over the entire area as a bolt of white lightning shot down from the sky and straight at Trish, completely obliterating the entire tree that that had immobilized her. At the same time, a silver magic circle formed underneath where Lady stood as her aura surged even brighter, obliterating her own restraints with the tree she was trapped in.
Both Lady and Trish gave yells and roars that echoed throughout the heavens as bright silver light shined around the former, with lightning surging all around Trish. Lightning of all different colors from yellow to blue to purple to even white.
Natsu, Lisanna, and Lucy looked in complete and utter shock, as did the Ultear, Kain, and even Job. On one end, Trish was engulfed in a sphere of multi-colored lightning while Lady's entire body emanated a silver aura. When two bright flashes of light finally exploded form both their spots; Lady appeared relatively unchanged, aside from the silver aura brightly surrounding her body, and her eyes glowing; green in her right, red in her left. However, it was Trish who appeared the most physically changed.
Gone was her humanoid form. In Trish's place stood something much more demonic. Her skin had turned dark grey, almost black. Her black leather clothes appeared merged with her body, as bolts of white lightning appeared to surge through her veins on her arms and thighs, as her hands became black claws with black talons on her feet. Her blonde hair began to glow a bright yellow. Her face appeared to have a demonic domino-mask embedded on it with glowing red eyes. But what struck out the most was a large pair of bat-like wings sticking out of her back. And of course, she held the Devil Sword Sparda in her hands.
"Trish…?" Lucy couldn't find the words.
"Is… Is that… a Devil Trigger…?" Lisanna stuttered.
However, everyone soon directed their attention to Lady as a silver magic circle appeared in front of her face. "Steel Devil…
Job's pupils shrank. "No… it can't be!"
…Rage!" From her mouth, Lady blasted a stream of steal straight at Job. The attack appeared similar to Gajeel's own Iron Dragon Roar, but unlike his which was a torrent of iron, hers was pure steel. The attack was a successful hit on Job as he was sent flying through multiple trees. Lady leapt after him at speed she never even thought she had before.
Before either Kain or Ultear could react to that however, Trish in her newly acquired Devil Trigger form, shot right at Hikaru in the form of a bolt of lightning that shifted from yellow to blue to purple and white. Kain was sent flying deeper into the forested area as Trish flew after him at lightning-speed that was double her own.
Ultear was nothing short of shocked. The look on her face was something that she never thought she experienced before. Trish not only had a Devil Trigger, but Dante's former associate named 'Lady' was also a Devil Slayer?! Suddenly, a large explosion of flame erupted from the cliffside, and before she could even react, Natsu suddenly appeared to slug her across the face and send her crashing to the ground.
Natsu quickly shattered the tree that ensnared Lucy with a fiery fist before doing the same thing to Lisanna. "You two, help Dante!" He told them as they saw Dante's barley conscious form lying on the ground. His own shocked look was present as well, no doubt he too was stunned from what just happened.
The Fire Dragon Slayer then turned directly to the recovering Ultear. "She's mine!" He exclaimed as he leapt at her. As he did, a new emotion filled Ultear's body, one she had felt only at the rarest of times: fear.
Kain had managed to pull himself up as static surged through his body. "Owie…" He moaned as the attack hurt him quite a lot. He looked in shock as he saw the Devil Trigger Trish looming over him. "Stay back scary lady! Or I'll…" Kain reached to his side, only to feel that something was missing, much to his shock.
"Looking for something?!"
Kain looked in shock to see the Devil Trigger Trish holding the Mr. Cursey doll in her hand as she used her other to pluck Dante's stolen strand of hair off it. "Hey you! Give me back Mr. Cursey!"
In direct response, multi-colored lightning surged in Trish's claw as she clenched the voodoo doll, and in less than a second, Mr. Cursey was reduced to ash. This left Kain Hikaru in a state of absolute terror as he saw the Devil Trigger Trish glaring hatefully at him. "Um… I just wet myself…" Kain muttered.
Trish swung the Devil Sword Sparda, charged with her multi-colored lightning to send Kain flying. However, he didn't' fly far as Trish shot past him in a bolt of her lightning right behind him, delivering a fierce kick as he made contact to send Kain straight up into the sky. Trish shot into the sky as well to slice at him with her blade at lightning-speed, causing him to yell in pain as a bleeding cut formed on his gut. Kain wouldn't get the chance to fall back down again as Trish shot all around him in multiple directions. Her body surrounded by her multi-colored lightning to enhance her speed. She moved so fast that Kain Hikaru could only stay in one place high in the air as he was being sliced repeatedly. After the twenty third slash, the Devil Trigger Trish flew high into the air as she lifted the Devil Sword Sparda, lightning shot down from the clouds to gather around the blade, charging it even further.
With a demonic yell, the Devil Trigger Trish flew down and brought her blade down hard on Kain Hikaru, creating something of a mix between a lightning-bolt and a meteor that sent him crashing to the ground at impossible speeds, shaking up the entire side of the island upon impact and a massive crater where Kain Hikaru lied in agonizing pain, or would have been if he were fully conscious. Despite being covered in scorch marks, dried blood, and cuts, he was still alive, albeit barley.
At the same time, Lady pounded Job with multiple punches at the kind of speed Natsu would deliver. Each punch was enhanced by her newly acquired magic that it dealt serious damage to Job. With the seventh punch across Job's face, he was sent crashing hard into a rock, shattering it upon impact.
"Impossible… you were born without magic! You're not a wizard!" Job exclaimed, his calm and stoic persona had completely vanished into that of rage and even fear. "How can you wield any type of magic!? Let alone that magic!"
"Figure it out yourself!" Lady exclaimed as she shot to him yet agaim.
"Holy Devil Sacred Blade!" He materialized his light sword again and attempted to bring it down onto her, but Lady was ready.
"Steel Devil Void Blade!" Her entire right arm had transformed into a long straight sword with a jagged blade at the right end, much shinier than anything Gajeel could create. Her blade easily blocked Job's light-sword, much to his shock. This left him open for Lady to slash at Job repeatedly with her arm-sword, hacking and slashing, spilling blood with each slice before she curved around for a long and hard slash as she yelled. The attack was enough to send Job flying even farther and crashing into a cliffside.
Job appeared embedded in the wall, as he couldn't move. The intense pain alone was enough, but it was also the shock and fear he was now feeling, even as Lady approached him menacingly. 'This can't be! I'm an apostle to Lord Mundus! One of his chosen! I cannot lose! No to this Devil Slayer pretender!'
Lady seized him by the throat as she pulled him in close and looked at him directly in the eye. "Never, ever, come near him again!" She threw Job into the air as she prepared another attack. "Steel Devil Rage!" She unleashed another breath-attack while he was in midair. The force of this attack was powerful enough to send him flying into the sky and would later come down at least a mile on the other side of the island.
Meanwhile, Ultear tried desperately to send many paradox doubles of her crystal balls at Natsu, but he punched them all in rapid succession. She tried to unleash as many as she could with her spell. "Flash Forward! Infinite Sphere!"
It almost seemed like an infinite amount of sphere would blast at Natsu like a series of homing missiles, but Natsu was actually ready. "Flame Lotus: Fire Dragon Fist!" Natsu unleashed an army's worth of punches at the rate of a machine gun. Each punch shattered not only the crystal punch the fist made contact with, but the impact was enough to shatter others around it. Though the blunt of it was used to blast away most of Ultear's crystal balls, much to her shock, the remainder of the punches had impacted Ultear herself and sent her crashing hard onto the ground.
Normally, that attack would be an instant K.O. for most people, but since it was used mostly to beat back Ultear's attack, she was still conscious. She struggled to pull herself back up on her feet as she saw the glaring Natsu. "No… I am… the leader of the Eight Kin… and I will not be bested!" She was about to produce another crystal ball with her arm, only for her arm to get shot by a bullet and another to hit her in the leg and bring her down.
Ultear looked in absolute shock to see Lisanna and Lucy holding the heavily injured Dante up as he weakly aimed his Ivory pistol at her. Though the young women were glaring at her, Dante kept his smirk up.
"Still got it…" He muttered.
On her right, a bolt of multi-colored lightning shot to the ground, revealing the Devil Trigger Trish. While on the left, Lady had landed on the ground on her fist and feet, creating a small crater on impact. They gave glares at Ultear that would make even a wild wolf tremble in fear. Natsu had a similar expression as the three of them were more than ready to rip her apart.
However, Ultear still had one last trick up her sleeve. "This isn't over!" She slammed her crossed hands on the ground as violet energy surged through them. "Ice Make: Rosen Krone!" In her place, a giant rose made entirely out of violet ice appeared from the ground, shooting out multiple spiked branches with roses on them, all made of violet ice, in multiple directions. Natsu dodged as Lucy and Lisanna pushed the injured Dante out of the way. While Trish just did a simple slash with her Devil Sword Sparda, and Lady just braced herself.
By the time it was done, Ultear had completely vanished, leaving only her ice-construct in her place. Though Natsu, Lucy, Lisanna, and even Dante were surprised by this.
"What the… Ice Make Magic?!" Natsu exclaimed in surprise. "I thought she could only use time magic!?"
"Ice Make… like Gray's…?" Lucy voiced in surprise.
"It looks like his, but different." Lisanna replied as she was more than a little shocked by this.
"Can… Can someone… have more than one… type of magic…" Dante stuttered as Lisanna and Lucy helped him to sit down on the ground.
"I've heard it's possible…" Lisanna answered. "But… it's rarely seen."
"You okay Dante?" Lucy asked him as Natsu joined them.
"Peachy." The red-clad Devil Hunter replied with a grin, causing the group to chuckle slightly at his attempt at humor.
"Dante!"
They all looked to see Lady and Trish running towards them, the later appeared to have turned back to normal as her Devil Trigger wore off. However, once they got to him and saw that he was alright, their fatigue set in as both fell to their knees, but that didn't change their own worried expressions they gave him.
Dante smiled sincerely. "You two…. You never cease to amaze…" He muttered before both women leapt at him for an embrace as tears were already flowing down their eyes.
"You asshole…" Lady muttered in-between sobs and laughs.
"Don't go scaring us like that…" Trish said in a similar tone.
"No promises…" Dante muttered as he embraced them back.
Natsu, Lisanna, and Lucy stood up as they couldn't help but smile at this scene. Natsu had his titular grin as both Lucy and Lisanna had their own tears of joy coming down from their eyes, not just from a touching scene but that they were just as glad that everyone was alright.
"Hey, you guys know what this means…?" Lisanna asked as the elation slowly died down and everyone looked toward her. "Right now, we beat two of the Kin of Purgatory. And, Natsu, Wendy, and I took down another one earlier… so that makes three."
"Loke and Trish beat one earlier to, so that's four!" Lucy revealed with a grin, having an idea where Lisanna was going with this. "And we just sent their leader running, so if you count her, that's five total!"
Natsu smirked. "We just took down more than half of Grimoire Heart's top guys!"
"We can do this! We can beat them!" Lucy exclaimed as determination filled through not only her, but also Lisanna, Natsu, Lady, and Trish, and even Dante, despite the condition he was in. "We can actually beat Grimoire Heart!"
"You're damn right we can!" Trish stated with her own grin as she and Lady helped Dante to his feet.
"Time to make these bastards pay for what they've done!" Lady also stated.
"Yeah, now we're taking the fight to them!" Lisanna nodded with determination.
"Well then, my friends… Time to send the Devils back to their precious master in pieces." Dante said. They all nodded in agreement. It was time for Fairy Tail to strike back!
Done.
Boy-howdy! That chapter was certainly something! Kain Hikaru has shown us just why he's a member of the Eight Kin of Purgatory, despite his whacky demeanor. I also decided to change up the battle to make it more serious because, let's be honest, the cannon fight was more comical than anything else, and that heavily contrasted with all the other fights with Grimoire Heart in this arc, so I made a few changes of my own. I even had a character-development moment between Lucy and Aquarius, with Lucy finally standing up to her, which actually impressed Aquarius, revealing that all her previous death-threats were just a form of tough love. What did you think about that? (plus I had the original idea of Lucy summoning Aquarius through blood because human blood is 92% water. Plus it only made Lucy more badass.)
And we just got off from one intense battle! Dante, Natsu, Lisanna, Lady, Lucy, and Trish were able to square off against Ultear, Job, and Kain and win! Trish has finally unlocked her own Devil Trigger! (take a look at my DeviantArt page "Trish Devil Trigger" by "Iron117Prime" to get a good idea what she looks like).
And maybe more importantly, Lady has gained the ability to use Devil Slayer Magic; Steel Devil Slayer Magic to be specific. My friend was able to provide me with some of the spells and you will see more as she learns to harness this power and make it her own. For those of you who are wondering how Lady acquired this ability, look back to when she was kidnapped (along with Mira, Angel/Sorano, and Ultear) during the Devil Hand arc. Arkham placed a lacrima in her, probably experimenting on her, and that has given her those newfound abilities (similar to how Laxus and Cobra became Dragon Slayers when they had lacrimas implanted in their bodies as well).
And now, it seems like Fairy Tail is ready to strike back as Kain and Job have been defeated! Thus marking four of the Kin of Purgatory down for the count, and even Ultear was forced to retreat as she did not make it out of that battle unscathed. That's half of Grimoire Heart's best defeated. However, they should not count the others out just yet. Rustyrose, Meredy, and Azuma still have plenty of fight to give, not to mention there's Master Hades himself, and one other member of this dark guild who has yet to show his face. He's not a member of the Eight Kin, but he might arguably be the most dangerous person in the entire guild aside from Hades himself (with Azuma being the strongest member of the Eight Kin).
Anyway, I hoped you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. What's in store next for our heroes? Will it be more reason to hope? Or further despair? Find out next time on Fairy May Cry!